Ridiculous DUI, Solar Power & Hidden Tattoos

DU-EpilepsyOn Oct. 28, a man with cerebral palsy and epilepsy was arrested for DUI while riding his motorized bicycle by Utah Highway Patrol trooper Lisa Steed, whose heavy-handed tactics were the subject of a recent City Weekly cover story [“Super Trooper,” Sept. 9]. After she stopped the man, who she says in the dash-cam video was “riding the wrong way on the sidewalk,” she performed field sobriety tests despite his acknowledgement of his various disabilities and the medication he takes for them. Since the arrest, UHP has reviewed the case and decided to drop charges, but seemingly because KUTV 2 TV reporter Chris Jones started asking questions. Additionally, Steed was not disciplined and remains on the DUI squad. It’s anyone’s guess why Steed’s superiors continue to “serve and protect” the officer—not the citizens—in the face of ongoing bad publicity for UHP.

Sun BurstSolar panels are going to be installed on the Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Medical Center, thanks to $6.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Construction on the panels is expected to start in early 2011. The money saved by using solar power will be used to improve patient care, according to a news release from Ameresco, the Massachusetts-based company that will install the panels. Also, another solar project—at Hillside Junior High in Salt Lake City—was completed Nov. 8. That is the first school to have panels installed as part of a statewide initiative that will eventually lead to solar panels at more than 70 schools.

Tattoo MadnessWest Valley City employees will have to cover their skin art or face termination. A new city policy mandates that all new hires have to cover any existing tattoos if they want to work for the city, and current employees will have to cover any new tattoos. The policy is meant to avoid “distractions” for people dealing with city employees, assistant city manager Paul Isaac toldThe Salt Lake Tribune. Ten years ago, this policy may have been plausible, but tattoos have become so common—especially for anyone under the age of 35—that it seems, well, curiously in line with a certain church’s tattoo taboo—which is also outmoded in 2010. Hopefully piercings and beards aren’t next on the verboten list.